Good vs Bad Strategy (part VIII)

Wow. The end is here. I’ve had a great time reviewing Richard Rumelt’s book and learned a lot along the way. I hope you have too.

Let’s wrap it up.  What did we learn and, most importantly, how can you put this knowledge to use to outperform your competition?  By the way, I have hyperlinked each section to the original post to make it easier for you to get back to the details if you need them.

Good strategy focuses energy on a problem.  It does not disperse the organization’s talents haphazardly.  The steps to create a good strategy are:

  1. Define the problem or the obstacles that are between the organization and its goals.
  2. Create a solution to fix/overcome the problem.
  3. Have a definite, easily measurable goal that will establish that the challenge has been met.
  4. Create action steps and accountability for carrying out the solution.

The following are characteristics of bad strategy and how to avoid them.

  • Failure to Face the Problem – Come to grips with the fact that there are problems in your organization that are keeping you from meeting your goals or that will keep you from meeting your goals.  Keep asking the hard questions until you find them.
  • Mistaking Goals for Strategy – Strategies contain goals, but goals are not strategy.  Strategy is about competitive advantage.  What is your competitive advantage and how will you maximize it?
  • Bad Strategic Objectives – If you have more than 2 to 3 strategic objectives you are not likely to hit them.  Focus!
  • Fluff – Watch for buzzwords and make sure the changes you are trying to make are measurable.  Set accountabilities and milestones.

Lastly, why is there so much bad strategy and how can we avoid it?

  • Inability to Choose – Strategy is about making hard choices.  Do not allow your organization to push forward with multiple strategies that do not support each other.  Focus on your core strengths.  Again – FOCUS.
  • Template Planning  – There is nothing wrong with the template as long as there is meaning behind it.  Follow the steps we discussed to make sure your template has teeth!

I had no idea when I started writing about this book that it would require so many posts to cover it.  It is a great book and one that spoke to many of my experiences in strategic planning.  I hope the summary helps wrap it up.  If you need more specifics, you can find each individual post on our website.

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